Scar Tissue
by Liebli
Summary: Running away from her troubles back in New York, Mimi returns to japan, hoping to find solace and peace. Hurt/Comfort/Friendship/Romance.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

 **…**

She carefully examined the contents on the file, it seemed she had to fill-out and sign the entire thing. When she finished skimming through the pages, she relinquished the application back to the headmistress.

"Well, what do you think?" asked the headmistress, placing the application back in the manila envelope.

"Should we really be sending it early?" Mimi wasn't sure if the headmistress was in her right mind, she _was_ only in the 11th grade; sending in an early college application to her preferred school felt discomforting, mainly because even if they looked at her application, the chance they would respond back, was kind of low.

"You do know how these schools work right?" the headmistress questioned. After no response from the young teen, she decided to enlighten her. "Schools want interested students who are ready to invest in their academics, the earlier you start sending your application, the faster they will respond. We're lucky that they offer earlier enrollment for students in earlier years." Mimi had only considered the school because _her_ dad insisted on the sooner the better. "Have you looked at any other schools that might interest you?"

 _Other schools_? That seemed Highly Unlikely; she could barely concentrate with her current studies, let alone tasking the responsibility of researching Higher education. "…No."

She was beginning to regret getting the principle involved. She wasn't even sure she wanted to begin adding stress of college into her already corrupted situation, all she wanted to do was worry about her current state and ease through her first year back.

"Oh, Why not?"

"I don't know." she whispered.

"Know…?" The headmistress contemplated on what was happening, the girl seemed absentmindedly.

"Nothing," Mimi finished.

"Very well," she looked up at the young pupil, "then here is the document." Her student nodded and took the envelope in her hands. "You can mail it straight to them, or if you don't know how to do so, or you have complications, then just bring it back, I'll mail it in for you."

"Um…"Mimi pondered, "is there an essay portion?"

"I Believe, hold on let me check," she snatched a large text that was sitting on her left and began looking through the pages in the catalog book. "They have an entrance exam, much like the one we have, but… I see nothing about an application essay." After reading a couple of passages from the pages, she found nothing that was of any relevance to an essay. "You know what, it doesn't state specifically if there is a written portion required. I'll give them a call later and see, I'll inform you tomorrow if anything comes up."

"Alright."

"It's no worries."

She looked at the manila envelope, it seemed as if her _pre-adult life_ was approaching quite fast. "Will that be all?"

"It is, unless you have any more questions."

Mimi shook her head.

"Well then, that will be all. Thank you for coming in, Ms. Tachikawa. Please inform your parent about the application and get their thoughts."

"Sure," she nodded. "Have a good day."

"You as well. Have a safe trip home," the elderly woman replied.

Mimi nodded again and bowed. Exiting the office room—she leaned back on the door before looking down at her bag, placing the packet in-between textbooks and folders of sorts. If there was one trait she really cherished about herself, it would be her organization skills. She only meet a few handful of people who liked to keep things neat; and while, she didn't have OCD, having everything arranged accordingly, gave her relief.

She left the main office and entered the corridor. It seemed so strange when there wasn't noise ricocheting off the walls, the silence in school really brought a whole new vibe to the establishment. During most of the day all you could hear in the halls were the much annoying idly chit-chat of the female population, it brought great shame to think she once partook in such vain activities. Silence, on the other hand, really represented what a school environment should feel like.

As she passed through the front-entrance door she felt the chilly wind hit against her skin, it was a good thing she came prepared for the weather.

* * *

Mimi was glad she brought her thick hoodie, she got cold really easily. Come to think of it, she hated the schools regulations. In America, during the low temperatures, female students were able to wear pants to help shield them from frigid weather, unlike all schools in japan, it was mandatory for girls to wear skirts at all times. It was quite laughable when they suggested she wear tights, as if that would even help, especially when it gets below 30 degrees.

Unfortunately, the clouds looked grayer than yesterday, which meant, it was going to rain later, most likely the same time as yesterday.

Walking home was always serene for her. She kept looking around her old neighborhoods, a lot of things remained as she once remembered, yet, the streets of Odaiba definitely changed since her departure. It almost seemed like forever since she'd been gone. Recollection of memories from her past began floating in her head. She remembered when she would play in the local parks with some of the other children, how profoundly it felt to make new friends and admirers. Most of the youngsters she befriended were kindhearted kids, and they all enjoyed her company, well… she just hoped it wasn't a facade.

All those times she would sleep over her friends house's, staying up till midnight chatting about what their futures would be like, and, when she always brought her pink pony lunchbox to school field trips. Also when her grade held the best drawing contest—mind you, she was nowhere near the best drawer—they were still so much fun. She recalled the time she smacked Koushiro Izumi in second grade because he implied that she sang 'out of sync'— _please_ , her father paid top yen for those lessons—they later apologized to each other and moved on.

 _Koushiro_. She couldn't quite think of him without thinking of the rest of the group. It was about seven years ago that she meet most of them, during their infamous summer camp trip. She had only been friends with Sora, Taichi, and Koushiro at the time, and later became really close with Yamato, Takeru, Jo, later meeting Kari—Taichi's younger sister. That was the perhaps the happiest memory she could ever retain. They meant a lot for her, mainly, because they helped her recognized who she was and what she was capable of. She could count on them for anything, well, at least with the things she was able to reveal.

It seemed hilarious that, at one point, she annoyed all of them with her incoherent demands, they would even deem her a brat. It was really interesting knowing how different she was from them. She had no hardships in her life, and everything had always been handed to her; she was, in terms, a princess. They taught her that each one of them was unique in quality, and each shined brighter with their flaws, even herself.

When she learned about the crest of purity, that's when her perspective changed. She didn't want to be that girl everyone avoided, she wanted to be remembered as someone who was kind and energetic. Honestly, she was the happiest with _them_ , her friends.

She had come a long way since then, and, thinking back, all those emotions _were_ really premature. Being kind, energetic, and sensitive didn't get her anywhere, and in fact made her a prey. Strangers forced their will upon others, and if you were weak, you'd drift into obscurity.

Thankfully, all her friends could protect each other, if anything was to occur among them. As for herself, she hadn't seen or spoken to any of them in a long while. She neglected to inform them of her return, partially because it was—at least in her terms—for the better; Mimi just wasn't ready for a reunion.

When she stepped in her house, setting her bag down, she secured the safety locks and chains on the door.

She wondered if she was still relevant to them. Had her absence changed any affinity they had towards her? She was in a depressive state, her spirit was fragile and unstable. She _hoped_ (a word she really didn't have much faith in anymore) to preserve the way they reacted around her. She had wanted to call them at one point, but that seemed more like a rational thought. Pity was a bitch she'd like to avoid—sooner or later she would have to confront her demons.

After locking up, she was felt a bit thirsty, so she headed for her kitchen to prepare some tea. She grabbed the kettle from one of the bottom drawers—pouring some water in and setting in on the electrical stove. She always made sweet berry tea when she got home, it calmed her nerves, and it had also become one of her daily routines. Tea was also great during the cold weather, something she had gotten use to back in New York. As she waited for the water to boil, she took a tea cup from the cabinet and set it next to her.

In the meanwhile, her homework was probably going to take a while, so she opened her bag and set some of the textbooks on the kitchen counter. On an average day, her assignments weren't so difficult, and could be finished within less than two hours, other times, she could finish a lot of work during the lunch breaks they gave in school. Studying, on the other hand, sometimes took more than the evening asked for. It was kind of humorous to think that she once loathed doing such tedious things, now, it helped her cope. Maybe, it was because work was manageable, were as the outside world, forged its own intangible road.

* * *

Around six in the evening, she began hearing the droplets of the sky hitting against her house, making soft splashing noises. Back in New York, she always use to sit near the window panes when it rained, loving how beautiful the fog looked below the condo on the city streets. Now, that fond was temporarily gone, mostly because it was cold outside and she had no desire to sit near the window.

She turned on the television to occupy the silence that was setting in her home, the noise helped her to unravel her thoughts process.

Too many things were going on at once, and she didn't have time for it. She wished she could be with parent's, but because they were in New York, there was little to nothing she could do, so she decided to call her dad.

The telephone rang a couple of times before the other end picked up, she heard his soothing voice come thru.

"Hello?"

"Hi dad," she started, "just calling to check up on you,"

"To _check up_ on me!? Since when have our roles reversed?" The playfulness in his voice was evident.

"It's been a while since it has," she laughed, along with her father.

"Hi sweetheart, I'm doing well. I tried calling you earlier but kept getting redirected to voicemail. How are you?"

"Splendid, sorry 'bout earlier, just had some extra projects I had to finish,"

"Projects? Must be tedious…"

"Mhm…"

"I guess looking for your significant other is hard," he teased, irritatingly so.

"No Dad." After Hearing no response on the other end, she decided to continue. "Don't make me feel disgusting."

"I would never," he inquired.

"Would you even approve?"

"I suppose not, but I trust you, you know."

She sighed, "I guess."

"So, how are you?"

"Eh, I have so many things to worry about." In truth, it wasn't a lot, but it was still handful of things that had come up in the recent weeks.

"Like…?"

"This application I have to turn in," she finished.

"Application?"

"Yep."

"The school application?"

"Mhm…"

"That's great, did you decided on the school we talked about?"

"Yeah."

"It's a good school."

"I know." She was only doing it because of him anyways. Diverting from that topic, she decided to continue, "How is mom?"

"She is doing a lot better, she'll make a full recovery soon." The tone in his voice convinced her that he was overwhelmed, or overworked, maybe both.

"That's good," she agreed.

"How are you holding up?" Her intuition told her to lie, her father had enough troubles right now.

"I'm doing a lot better." She wanted to encourage him to a more positive mentality.

"Really!? You're not happy of getting rid of your parents, are yuh?"

"Right," clearing her throat, she avoided answering an already obvious question.

"Are you seeing Dr. Okawashi?" he asked.

"Unfortunately." She hated the topic that was about to start. "He said he was going give you a call sometime next week."

"Hm, nothing but good news I suppose."

"Right," she answered, unenthusiastic.

"How far have you been progressing?"

"Mm…" Mimi contemplated the possible disciplines she could receive. Could she even get punished? Even across seas? Most likely.

"Mimi." He knew his daughter too well to know that she was withholding information from him.

"Not much."

"Mimi…" he was disappointed, she knew.

"I know, I know… it's just," she didn't want to get scolded, but the way the conversation was carrying, she just might get yelled at, "it isn't much help."

"If you cooperate, I'm sure you'll see the results." He knew his daughter was going to give the poor man a hard time, she did same thing to the one in New York. "Promise you'll try,"

"I just, don't, like, feel comfortable."

"Dr. Oka—"

"I don't favor seeing him."

"You have to, I'm obligating you to go."

…

"Well?" Keisuke was getting frustrated with the tone of his daughter, she promised him she would respect all his demands when she asked if she could return. Circumstances separated them apart, but only for a while. He had to take care of her mother back in New York, but she was not about to get away from the responsibility she had. "I told you not you were better off staying with me."

"I couldn't possibly imagine how I would feel if I was back there," she piqued.

"Better than you are now."

"Can we not do this, I want to leave off on a good note."

"Well you certainly aren't making the effort. To leave on good terms, you need to oblige by the rules," he sighed, he had a lot of work to do, and his daughter was complicating things again. "Do you want me to find some else to help?"

"No…" It was her inability to want to confess to anyone of what was going on in her life that was holding her back. "It isn't him, I'm just not use to this." Mimi didn't like making promises, especially ones that prompted to be forgotten. "But fine, I'll try, for you."

"You sure? I could look for someone else if it's not working out for you,"

"Don't. It won't matter who it is." She would let her father win this time, but things weren't going to be so easy in the future. "I'll make the effort, I promise."

"Okay…"

"I'll try," she repeated in whisper.

"Thank you honey, that's all I ask. Anyways, I have to get back to work, I'll see if I can come visit you soon. I love you babe. say hi to your aunt for me."

"Okay daddy—I'll tell her, Love you too."

"Bye, take good care."

She held her cell in her ear seconds after the call ended. A part of her wanted to keep talking to her dad, to tell him how alone and unsecured it felt being back in Tokyo, but she couldn't be so selfish, she—herself—had chosen this ultimatum.

It was approximately half past six; her aunt almost returned from work.

She continued her studies and afterward packed everything neatly back into her bag. To her discomfort, she still had a manila envelope to attend to, so she started at its contents with a pen in hand. She let out a loud sigh and began writing; there were a lot of questions, too many for her liking.

* * *

Looking over the sheets, she proofread everything. Mimi didn't even know why she indulged the idea of college right now, she had at least over a year to get back into the normality of things, and it's not like she was academically excellent, she was above average but nothing more. All of this was for the welfare of her parents, to ease their worries.

It was good thing her aunt came home really exhausted, it meant it was going to be a quiet night.

Looking down at her wrist—checking the time, she went up to the second floor to get some much needed _r &r_ in.

The hot steaming water of the shower hitting against her bare skin, gave her a small surge of energy. In all honesty, taking warm showers at night was the most enjoyable part of the day. In a moment of comfort, the stream of water seemed to become her best friend.

* * *

Koushiro frantically paced back and forth inside his room, waiting for the person on the other end to pick up. Why _he_ signed-up for keeping maintenance on the digital world, _he_ did not know. Was the responsibility solely his? He couldn't understand how his friends were all so irresponsible. _Perhaps_ , if they just applied a little interest for their digital friends, then they could look after things in his absence.

"Yes?" Taichi's mother answered.

"Hi Mrs Kamiya, Its Koushiro. I was just wondering if Tai was home."

"Hello Koushiro, how are you? Are you feeling better?"

"Yes, a lot better, thank you. My mom said your recipe came in handy, she sends her thanks."

"I'm glad, give her my regards, will you."

"Mhm."

"Thanks, hold on, I'll go get Taichi for you."

"Thank you," he muttered, he spun the telephone cord around his forefinger out of sheer boredom. He would have used his cell to message him, but it was lost somewhere in the clutter of his room.

Soon after, his grumpy friend's voice came through the other end. "Koushiro? Why ar—"

"What the hell Tai! WhyDidn'tAnybodyMonitorTheLabYesterdayWhenIWasGone!?ICan'tBelieveIt, ICantLeaveAnythingForYouGuysBecauseYouLeaveItUnattended!"

"Koushiro. Koushi-Kou-Kous," Koushiro had obviously gone off the deep end, it was impossible to understand a single word the kid was uttering. "KOUSHIRO!"

After hearing small breaths from the other side of the phone, he decided to approach the situation again. "Now," he breathed, "what happened that has you so hyped up?"

"I'M NOT HYPED, I'M UPSET!"

"Calm down." Taichi hated how distorted the phone was when someone was really loud on the other end. "What happened?"

"Look," he quickly recomposed himself, "nobody checked that lab yesterday, and because of my absence, the equipment got damaged."

"Damaged—how?"

"The storm, Tai, there was a leak in the lab room." Letting out a breath-full sigh, he deciding to continue. "I went to the counselor, she told me that she would inform the principle about the incident."

"Ah, damn," Taichi new there was something he forgot to do yesterday. "Sorry Koushiro, I was meeting Jo yesterday and—"

"And you couldn't just— _oh_ , _I don't know_ —check the lab," he questioned.

"Sorry, it completely slipped my mind. What's going to happen to the digital server?" Clueless as he was, Taichi knew that they need to keep observation on the digital world, for everyone's safety.

"I have a feeling that it will be fine— _for now_ —we won't be able to do anything until we can get another viable computer."

"Use your laptop."

"I'm afraid that laptops and home computers can't handle that kind of power." Sure they could track some activity through regular computers, but appropriate action would be rendered useless. "The counselor told me that she would see what she could do, not sure how much faith I have in that."

"Do you think it's replaceable?"

"I don't know, but we need to come up with an immediate course of action; expect the worse, just in case."

"Maybe the consular will have a solution."

"Uh, I'm not so sure." Koushiro didn't have much faith in the counselors, mostly due to his experience with them. "I really don't know what we'll do if we can't find a server."

"It's going to be Okay," Taichi reassured him, "let's see what happens tomorrow and we can decided what to do from there."

Koushiro sighed, "Fine, meet me in the lab tomorrow."

"Will do. Oh, and Koushiro?"

"What."

"Next time, call my cell."

"Whatever."

Taichi chuckled, "Night Kou—"

"Bye," he hung up flatly. Koushiro was very much upset for the lack of a plausible solutions they had come up with. Hopefully, the digital could hold its own, in the meantime, they needed to solve this problem.

After hanging the phone Taichi retreated back to his room, dragging his idle body back to his mattress. Koushiro was so rude to interrupt his restful nap-sleep-slumber, now it was going to take him _ages_ to fall back asleep.

* * *

 **A/N:** Hi everyone. If you've made it this far, hopefully, that means you read at least a bit of my story, if so, thank you so much, it really means a lot. Um, I guess i should clarify a bit of whats going on. First off, I'm not going to write Mimi as the sweet, bubbly, airhead she is. Her character is going to go through more of a cause-and-effect, kind of phase, which means you might find her a bit OOC. Also, Romance wont be the main theme for this fiction, but it will be incorporated. Anyways, I don't have the story quite mapped out yet, but I'll fill in the gaps as best I can. Additionally, any Original characters will play a minor role and will help Mimi progress through the story, some will serve no relevance.

By the way, I don't own any of the original Digimon characters, or names, etc.

I don't have much experience writing these, but hopefully I can provide a good read for you. Anyways, thanks for reading, drop me a comment/review, any constructed criticism is greatly appreciated. Thank you!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

…

It seemed like the day was already starting off horrible. Before daybreak, she had awoken to the loud grumbling thunder and violent wind attacks hitting against her window. If anyone had ever had the displeasure of waking up before dawn, they'd know the horrible headaches that came along; the worst part of it all, though, was that Mimi was already suffering with Insomnia, and the little sleep that she could get was now robbed from her. The thunder became noisier by the minute and her tossing and turning didn't help, so she decided to give up. These kinds of storms were too unusual for the current season.

 _Ugh_. She began smelling the earthy-rain seeping in through her window. Uncovering her bare legs from the comfy covers, she stood from her bed and headed towards the light switch. Everything was still blurry, and rubbing her eyes made things worse—bringing along that burning pain.

After a good seven minutes of squinting, her sight adjusted. She winced when her eyes landed on the electrical clock; it was around five in the _freaking_ morning, so much time between now and when school started. Knowing fully well that there was no way she was getting back to sleep, she began thinking of errands that needed tending to.

As she headed down stairs, she heard a couple of noises coming from the kitchen, presumably coming from her aunt. It took a minute for the silhouette to become clear, it was then that she heard her.

"Couldn't sleeping either, huh?" her aunt questioned.

"What was your first clue?" Mimi replied.

"Ha-ha, smart-ass," she turned around and rotated the nob on the stove. "I'm making oatmeal, want some?"

Mimi looked at the clock hanging above the fridge. "Sure."

After realizing that her phone was on the counter, she took a seat on one of the stools. She had a couple of news feeds that weren't particularly interesting, most of them—useless celebrity gossip, as if people didn't have anything better to do than to invade the personal affairs of others.

On the corner of the phone, the envelope Icon had a big five. It was always really nice when she got privet messages from her friends in Manhattan. They were always so cordial around her, sending her greetings and sweet nothings, and she always replied with 'thank you' and 'miss you too'. Rarely—because of the time difference—had she had the time to have any conversations, although, she would have probably reject the idea anyways.

"I suppose you don't want coffee," her aunt hinted.

She shook her head, "I'll have some water though." She didn't like coffee, not after the discoveries scientist had unveiled.

"So how's your dad doing?"

"…Fine," she answered, skimming through a couple of unanswered _D.M's_. "He sends his regards."

"That's nice of him, did you tell him about my sweets thought?" Lysa teased.

"Um…"

"You, did tell him to ship me some, right?" The silent demeanor from her niece informed her that she hadn't told her brother. "Shame on you, _you_ know I love them, especially when they come straight from the chocolatier."

"It's expensive though, and you should be thanking me for helping you halt that weight gain." It was a relief to Mimi when she learned that she would be staying with her aunt. Lysa was only ten years her senior, so they got along like siblings.

" _You bitch_ ," They both couldn't contain the giggles, especially with the way she said it. "I'm not even fat." Lysa stuck her tongue out, a Tachikawa custom.

"If you eat a lot of sweets, you will be," Mimi teased.

"Ugh, whatever… Like I need to discuss my nourishment with you."

"That's isn't nourishment though."

"Anyways, moving on, how's your mom doing?"

"I don't know." In truth, Mimi had no idea how her mom was handling her fatigue. It had occurred before her departure, and for a moment, really frightened her without warning. Once she was checked into the hospital, they informed them that she was dealing with muscular weakness. The original plan was that her mother was going to accompany her here, but out of care, they all agreed it was best for her to stay in New York, she needed to replenish her health. She wished nothing more than for her mom to get better. "I just hope she gets better."

"She will."

Mimi smiled at the notion, she didn't mind compassion for her mother.

Lysa set a plate in front of her and began pouring the oatmeal for her. Mimi replied with a thanks before setting her phone aside. She learned a long time ago to put an ice cube in the bowl, to cool it off first, the damn things was always hot. Dripping some fresh berries in the oatmeal, she began blowing every spoonful she took.

After a while, they both noticed the noise outside had ceased, even the winds were returning to their regularity.

"Strange weather," Lysa started.

"Was it like this last year?"

"No, but they said that today would be the last day."

"Oh."

"I'm going to go get ready for work, can you wash your dish for me, please." Assuring her that she would, her aunt retreated back upstairs.

That incurable headache she got in the morning was almost gone entirely, even though she was still feeling lazy. After a couple of minutes of cleaning up, she too went back up stair to freshen up. There was only an hour left, and a couple of things still needed to get done before then.

Entering her room, she looked at the school uniform sitting on the edge on her bed, it needed to be pressed, her hair-ends needed to be curled, and her phone needed to be charged.

* * *

"Wow, this _is_ a messy," Taichi blandly stated. There were plastic covers over some of the computers—probably to protect the remaining systems. The leak had done its damage across the room, and the server looked… engulfed by water.

"You're so observant." Koushiro moved around cables and tables that surrounded the computer. He had unplugged it since the day before, just so it wouldn't contain any static charge. "They're going to move it today."

"Where to?"

Koushiro shrugged, he had no idea what was going to happen to the computer, but they needed to take precautions, the room could still be very dangerous. After sighing loudly, he decided to leave this matter to the higher ups.

"Here you guys are—whoa! What happened here?"

As annoyed as Koushiro was, he decided to ignore Yamato's stupid question. It was, In fact, all their faults; how they were so dense, was beyond him. "Where's Sora?"

"Eating breakfast with some friends," Yamato answered.

"Great, now _we_ are left to pick up the pieces," Taichi added.

"Well this wouldn't of happened if—"

"I know Kou-, I know." It wasn't his fault the idiotic room had defects, it hadn't even occurred to him that it was going to be raining that day either, it's not like he watches the news.

"So what are you guys gonna do about this."

" _You guys?_ " Taichi mimicked, "You should be the first one to notice when Koushiro doesn't come."

"What? I wasn't even aware of Koushiro's absence."

"Thanks, Yamato." It honestly felt more like an insult than a rhetorical statement.

"I didn't mean it like that Koushiro, I—"

"It doesn't matter, I'm going to talk to the counselor after school, Tai your coming with me. Yamato, you and Sora be available if needed."

"What, why don't you make them go with you," Taichi whined, he hated how Yamato grinned at him.

Koushiro rolled his eyes at him, Taichi was known for whining when something wasn't going his way, and everyone had grown accustomed to it. "I'm going to class now, I'll come get you when later."

"Whatever, it's not like I have any other choice," Taichi followed close behind Yamato, who was heading to his homeroom.

* * *

Her arrival at school was—per usual—quite mundane. Other girls—already in their cliques chatting away the minutes that occupied the time before sessions began. In the beginning, some few girls offered their generous hospitality, which she had gracefully declined. Whether it would ever be offered to her again, was not of any relevance to her, although, she did like studying the conversed interactions among them. However, it always reached a point where girls began acting so… basic. They talked about who was with who, the guys they were crushing on, where they were heading after school, what time their 'guys' were picking them up. For an all-girls private school, the hormones were real. To some degree, at one point, she was sort of like them; thankfully, she had now reached a point of enlightenment, were she wasn't swooned by those type of things anymore.

Once her homeroom teacher stepped in, all current thoughts vanished. The good thing about the school was that it adapted from western culture school systems, which made her move back, so much smoother. The teacher also seemed to understand her circumstances, something she wished more people would adhere.

…

Time went by quickly for her, the last subject of the day—math—was the last class before school ended. Unbeknownst to anyone else, she wasn't particularly bad at solving these basic algorithms.

The teacher called some of the girls to the front of the class to explain on the board how they had gotten their answers, when it was her turn, she repeated the steps the rest of the girl had taken. In turn, this was one of the harder problems, which needed a lot of explaining.

It wasn't until she was almost done writing the problem that she realized how uneasy she was feeling; she could feel the stares of her classmates, gazing at her turned back. Breathing in lightly, turning to face them, and flipping a strand of hair to the side, she began.

As she began explaining, a couple of the girls kept looking down on their workbook and back on the board, she wondered if—perhaps—she had gotten the answer wrong, but the teacher assured her that it wasn't.

"Well done Mimi," by the look on some of his student's faces, a lot of them got mixed answers.

Giving an unconvincing smile, she bowed and went back to her seat. Afterwards, the teacher announced that they needed to clean up before they left. The task didn't take more than five minutes, and before she knew it, she was leaving school grounds.

* * *

It had been a long day, full of waiting. Waiting through a long day of school. Waiting through Koushiro silent demeanor. Now, both he and Koushiro were waiting patiently for the counselor to receive them. Taichi kept fidgeting a pen between his slender fingers, which he saw, made Koushiro irritated. To say he was nervous, was putting it lightly. The reason why? Well, let's just say he was expected.

Once the door opened, the gentlemen stepped in.

"Hey guys," she greeted, "have a seat."

"Thanks." Koushiro—always so formal—accepted her suggestion. "We," he gestured to Taichi and himself, "just came to see if there was any news about the computer."

She hadn't noticed that Mr. Kamiya was the one accompanying Izumi, so she decided to take advantage of the situation before she informed them of what was going on. "Taichi! You've finally decided show up at my office," she began, "I was beginning to wonder if you'd ever show up at all."

"Yeah…" Taichi smiled, embarrassingly so. "I know what you're gonna tell me, but don't worry, I've already started looking at colleges, don't need the lecture."

"Better late than never I suppose," Koushiro interrupted.

"Hey, I haven't had the time, okay."

"Yeah well, just make sure you come see me when you do decided, and make it soon." The counselor had been waiting for Taichi since the first semester of school for him to come see her, at least he assured her of his decision. "Anyways, we talked to the tech repair store, the computer has a warranty, and we could return it at any given time—"

"Thanks goodness, we have a lot things to run on that system." Taichi said in glee.

"Well," she inquired, "yes, it is warrantied, but that doesn't mean well get it back in a week."

"What, why?" asked Taichi.

"Because," the red headed boy added, "The shipment don't come in a week, not unless you pay them more."

"Exactly. We also have to send someone to fill out the form. I'm sorry but that's our only solution."

"How long would the shipment take?" Koushiro questioned.

"The earliest shipment could arrive with-in a month or so, give or take."

"A month!" _Shit_. Taichi wasn't sure if he could take a month of Koushiros nagging, he would surely blame him, if nothing else.

Koushiro knew something like this would happen, he had figured that if the server was warrantied, then perhaps, it would take time before they could regain it.

"You also have to wait, our tech instructor is on his week off, so you would need to wait until he came back to—"

"I can fill out the form, with the schools permission of course," Koushiro interjected.

"Well that sounds all fine, but the problem resides with the location," the woman looked at her computer screen, "The repair stores is in the central part of Toko."

"That's not far, we can use the transit," he insisted.

"Well, if you're that eager, I can print out the location for you."

"Thanks you." They needed to cut their losses and take action now, waiting, wasn't an option for them.

After the woman agreed to their request, they began looking up the transit route. It was merely evident that they needed to go today.

* * *

Mimi arrived at the post office before closing time, she wanted to turn in _this_ irreverent application. She hadn't expected the post office to be full at this time of the day, they must have been like her, waiting till the last minute.

After a few minutes of waiting in line, it finally became her turn, the young man working the line warmly received her.

He asked her many questions—things that should've been written on the package. Guessing by his inexperience, she concluded that he was an intern.

It seemed like a while since she had been there, and in the end they couldn't even mail the damn thing. Apparently, the school needed to authorize the envelope, which pissed her off. It was upsetting that no one warned her about this.

There was no point trying anymore, the most effective solution would be for her to take the packet back to the head mistress.

* * *

Koushiro checked the options on the warranty, there were many options they could use for the return policy. He wanted to make sure everything on the list was taken care of. One of the suggestions that was offered explained that they would be able to pick up the machine at the school directly, but it would be until Friday. It was the best option on the form, so without hesitation, he gladly checked that off.

Taichi, on the other hand, was looking around the small shop and was intrigued by all the computer peripherals. He wasn't one to be fascinated by such things, this was usually Koushiro's area of interest.

After he finished revising everything, he handed to the form to the manager of the quaint shop. As the manager handed him the carbon copy, he asked, "Is this the only shop that offers replaceable units?"

"Well for the one you're looking for, yes. By the way, your school needs to read the new warranty measures," he handed Koushiro the large envelope, who then gave it to Taichi—who was looking at the objects beneath the glass counter.

"Then everything is set? Nothing left to sign?"

"No, that will be all. Make sure to give that to whoever is in charge."

"That seems simple enough," Taichi responded.

"Well then, the shipping order has been made for the arrival on three weeks."

Koushiro sighed in relief, he thought that they would be given a larger due date, but thankfully everything was in order. "Thank you for your help."

"No problem. Anything, for that old school."

"You attended Odaiba?" Taichi questioned.

"Yep, almost been thirty years since those days."

"Oh, how did—" He was about to finish but Koushiro nudged him.

"The bus is about to arrive, we need to go." Koushiro and Taichi bowed to the elderly man, quickly heading off in a hurry.

* * *

It was a good thing it stopped raining that morning, Mimi didn't want to find out how soaked she would of gotten if it hadn't. It was still chilly though, and the winds were moderately present. The streets were still covered in puddles and there wasn't a hint of sun light available.

Even though her plan didn't go quiet as expect, she was a bit relieved, for the most part, mainly because she wouldn't have to spend a dime on the damn carrier, since the school would be obligated to do so.

It was lovely how colorful this part of town looked, there were shades of greens, oranges, reds, and violets. It reminded her a lot of the vivid colors of the digital world. Her last visit seemed like a century ago. All the escapades with the others were a lot of fun, even when the circumstance were at their worst, they always pulled through, together.

…

She reached the corner of the street when someone ran by, perpendicular to her own side, causing her to pause. The next thing she knew, someone else crashed hard against her own body, making her tumble down on the concrete floor. At first, the impact felt miniscule, that is, before she felt the small scrape that opened on her palm. It didn't stop there though, the collision was so strong that it indirectly caused her to fall on a puddle.

As she stumbled to get back up, the culprit stood up quickly offering her a hand.

"I'm really sorry." It was a voice too familiar.

As it became apparent who he was, the first thing that stuck out immediately was his wild brown hair. It wasn't long after that she noticed the predicament that she was in.

Taichi looked down at the lithe girl with discontent. He didn't mean to harm her, but by the looks of it, he had done just that. "Let me help you up," he offer his hand, but she gently slapped it away. She was acting difficult, and making it hard for him apologize. As he reach down to retrieve one of the manila envelopes, he caught a quick glimpse of her amber colored eyes. He faintly remembered someone he knew having them, but he couldn't distinctly remember who.

"Tai, what are you doing!?" Koushiro was halting the bus driver, who was becoming irritated by the fact neither of the boys were getting on.

When Taichi looked back to the girl, she had stood up, staring at the wet stains on her pants. He frowned, feeling guilty for her mishap. He wanted to offer her a sincere apology, but Koushiro had stalled the driver long enough, he needed to leave.

"I am really sorry, please forgive me, I would make it up to you if I could." He began heading towards the bus, "I'm sorry," he said, one last time.

Her pulse was beating fast, everything happened so suddenly, so many things started running through her head. When Mimi heard footsteps steadily retreating, she turned around to make sure her eyes weren't playing tricks on her. The resemblance was uncanny, it was Taichi, and by the looks of it, Koushiro was with him. As she regained her composure she picked up her envelope and began dusting off the dirt.

…

"What happened?" Koushiro asked, looking at Taichi who was of breathing heavily.

"That girl…" He pointed out the window to the young female, "we collided."

"Did you at least apologize?" Koushiro examined the girl, she was standing still, perhaps cleaning herself off from the dirty collision with Taichi.

"Of course I did," Taichi snorted, "she didn't even indulge me."

"Your ego surprises me."

"Whatever, she could have at least looked at me."

Koushiro shook his head, clearly, Taichi was missing the point.

…

When the engine of the transit was no longer in hearing range, the panic from the occurrence began settling in her mind. How, No. Why were they here? The headache from this morning starting coming back again. She didn't need this, not now.

Her palm was throbbing and her skinnies started feeling soggy from all the water they had absorbed. This couldn't of happen at a worse time.

This was indeed turning out to be a horrible day.

* * *

 **Thank you, to all everyone who has read, favored, followed, and reviewed this story, You guys are awesome. I hope this chapter is satisfying, there isn't a lot of interactions among the main characters yet, but the next chapter should be fun.**

 **Anyways, Thanks again, and have a nice day! R/R**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

…

She had calmed down from the altercation that happened earlier and was now putting pressure on her open wound, letting the cold icy water numb as much of the pain as it could. It really stung, she hated being physically injured. Mimi was one of those people that liked to experience as little pain as possible, but somehow, it always found its way around her, this scrape was a pure example of that. Using one free hand, she opened the bottom of the bathroom drawer and took a bandage out. Once she was sure that the wound was cleaned thoroughly, she pushed the faucet handle down, bringing the water to a stop. She groaned when she rubbed the healing cream; then unfolded the bandage she found, tightly wrapping it around her damaged palm.

It had never occurred to her that she would run into any of the others, hell, she didn't even know if they still resided in Koto. A part of her was glad though, glad that they hadn't left, that they were still around. This accident might be the opening she needed to rekindle her relationship with the others, yet, there was still this uncertainty that she was lingering in her head.

Scared… she was scared. But why? There was no reason to for it. Perhaps, it was a just that she hadn't seen them in so long that she felt like it was the first time they ever met. Still, these feeling were new to her. She had once been so outgoing and passionate, never shying away from anyone, and always strode with confidence; so why was this bothering her so much?

She hated to admit it, but advice was needed, advice from the one person she wasn't in good terms with. Reaching her phone, she scrolled down to the last call she had made _him_ , and pressed 'call'.

When he answered, she immediately responded. "I need to change my Friday session to tomorrow?" After hearing confirmation from him, she thanked him before hanging up.

…

She had to give props to the handicap, managing tasks with one hand was an accomplishment all on its own. Things definitely moved slower than usual, but she was still able to progress through her daily duties.

 _Oh._ With the events of that day, she had almost forgotten about the damn envelope. Immediately, she noticed the strangest thing, the mailing information that was supposed to be on the front, was gone.

 _What?_

She opened the flap quickly, hoping she was wrong, that she was hallucinating. Before she even took out the entire thing, she knew this wasn't hers, it was a documentation or something of that caliber. Her pulse beat fast again. Things just weren't going her way.

She called to mind what had happened earlier, and like a slide show, it became evident what had gone on. She felt a pang in her stomach, knowing exactly where her envelope was, and more importantly, who had it.

 _I can't believe this…_

* * *

They waited outside the school yard, waiting for Taichi to make his slow arrival.

"Where is he?" Sora stated, frequently tapping her foot on ground.

"Don't worry, this is just vintage Taichi," commented Yamato, wrapping his arm around her.

To this, she only frowned. Sure, Taichi was always late, but this was no time to be hindering behind the crowd. "He lives the closest, you'd think he'd be the first one here."

Koushiro was looking at the seismic readings on his computer, everything in the digital world seemed to be in order.

"You two should probably get going." She motioned to the two younger teens, who were conversing among themselves.

Takeru, hearing the ginger, acknowledged her. "But Taichi..."

"I think he's sick or something," Hikari added.

"What makes you say that?"

Hikari pondered, "… He came home late yesterday, and didn't eat dinner, which is weird, considering he has the stomach of a horse."

"It's probably just from the fall he took yesterday," Koushiro informed, multitasking conversations with them and typing away on his device.

"Fall?" Sora questioned.

"He fell on someone, I think..."

"What?" Yamato's interest had been peaked, hopefully the dirt on Taichi would be juicy, something he could use against him. "How did that happen?"

"I don't really know." Koushiro closed the laptop screen and returned it back in his safe briefcase. When he caught a figure sporting his friend's hairdo, he decided to inform everyone else. "Ask him yourself."

"Ask who what?" Everyone turned around at the sound of the brunette. Yawing, he stretched both his arms and took in his friends expressions.

"You fell on someone?" Yamato jested.

The tall brunette turned to Koushiro, casting him a betrayed look. "Yeah, what of it."

"Really? That happened?" Hikari, now intrigued as well, asked.

"It's not important."

"I want to know," insisted Sora.

"Me too," added Hikari.

"I fell," he avowed.

"Wow, that's so detailed."

"Yep." He boasted.

"Okay Taichi, stop playing. What really happened?" Sora countered, folding both her arms.

Taichi sighed in defeat. "Look it was nothing, we tried to catch the bus, and she just… came out of nowhere. We crashed, she fell down, damaged her hand, and fell on a puddle," Taichi said, crossing his wrists behind his head. "Her pants looked like…crap, literately.

"I think that's why she was mad. I'm lucky I walked out of there unharmed."

"How did you even crash?"

"We…" Taichi looked at Koushiro, "were running… at full force." He realized the comedic side of their actions.

Yamato and Takeru both held their laughter and chuckles as long as they could before turning to each other, releasing a most hysterical outburst.

Taichi annoyingly pouted. "Did I say something funny?"

Both siblings couldn't contain it, the laughter was pouring out of them like vomit. Sora and Hikari looked at them in bewilderment. There was no reason for their little skit.

"What so funny!" he repeated.

Breathing slowly, Yamato began, "Sorry man, but, leave it to _you_ to mess up a girl's day."

"Yeah, I mean, who runs—full force—trying to catch a bus," Takeru chortled.

"That's hardly the issue," Sora Interjected. Turning to Taichi, she asked, "You apologized, at least, right?"

"Uh… I tried, I even offered her my hand, before she slapped it away."

The outburst commenced again. "Taichi, this like what—the tenth girl, how many times are you going to get on their bad side!" the young teen chortled again.

"TAKERU," Taichi gritted.

"Let's go." Hikari rotated Takeru around and pushed him forward. "We'll see you guys later," she waved.

Waving them off, Sora turned to Taichi, whose attention was diverted from everyone else. "Taichi?"

"Hm?"

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah."

"We're just teasing you." Yamato admitted.

"Yeah, I get it…"

"You sure nothing's wrong? I cause it seems like there is."

He questioned if he should tell them of the girl, the girl who he some seemed relatively familiar. He shrugged that thought off. He would probably never even see her again, though, he wished he could, mostly to offer her his service, for the accident, that is. "Nah."

"Hey Tai, we have to turn in that new policy." Koushiro stated.

"The…" He turned his attention to the missing bag he forgot. "Right, Uh, I kinda forgot it at home."

"What!"

Throwing his arm is surrender, Taichi decided to retreat. "I'll just run home and get it, real quick."

Frustrated as he was, Koushiro knew they couldn't stay here for long, sessions were about to begin in just a few moments.

* * *

That afternoon the rest of the group—Sora, Yamato, and Koushiro—were meeting in an alternative club room, since the old one was out of commission for the rest of the week, perhaps even the rest of the month. Everyone was upset, mostly due to the extreme weather had been going on for the past week. Lots of plans and events had gotten postponed because of the heavy rain.

Yamato—rolling a pencil up and down the desk—began asking how long Taichi was going to take. Just then, the door opened swiftly, revealing their weary friend. "You take forever."

"It was that stupid quiz."

"Do any good?" said Sora.

"Probably not." Taichi hinted.

"I'm not really surprised, you hardly study for anything." She then continued conversing with Yamato.

"That's not true." Once he was fully inside the room he positioned his bag to the side, turning the tiny nob and opening the top, he grabbed the yellow folder. "Here."

The first thing Koushiro noticed when he took possession of the envelope was that it had a big white mailing sticker. Second, the mailing sticker had been personalized. "What?" he said out loud, "this isn't it.

"Where did you get this?"

"What?" Taichi repeated.

The name. Koushiro quickly released its contents on to the table. Looking over the sheet, he recognized what it was, a university application. On the recipient documentation, written in dark black ink, was Mimi's name. "Is this a joke?"

"What is? I don't get what you're saying, man." Koushiro passed the envelope to him and pointed to the mailing sticker. "From Tachikawa Mimi," he nonchalantly responded. He hadn't caught on, but then realized his empty-headed response. "TACHIKAWA MIMI!"

Gaining the attention of Sora and Yamato, who had—to this point—been managing their own conversation—took the yellow folder in their possession.

"Mimi?" Sora questioned, astonishingly so.

Looking over Sora's shoulder, Yamato decide to comment next. "What the hell."

Things weren't making sense, but then he remembered that yesterday, two envelops had been scrambled during his collision. He was sure that the closest to him belong to them. "Wait. There's no way that could have been…"

"What?" Yamato and Sora said in unison.

"I wasn't sure, but back then…" He was completely confident that the person he saw yesterday was, without a doubt, Mimi. "It was Mimi."

"Wait, I'm not following," she admitted.

"Yesterday, the person I crashed into was... Mimi."

If it wasn't for the immaculate credentials on the sheet, Koushiro would have doubted that. He knew Mimi's writing when he saw it.

"That can't be, she's in New York." Sora stated.

"Apparently not," Koushiro countered.

"Huh?"

He felt ashamed for looking through her application, but from what was written on the documentation, she was diffidently back. "See here," He pointed to a directive on the paper. "There's no doubt, she's back."

"But how? I mean she didn't tell us." She and Mimi had always been friends, and she'd like to think that they were pretty close, amongst all their other friends. But then why was this news so hard to believe? Taking out her phone, she started dialing away.

"What are you doing?" Yamato had been with Sora for a long time now, and since they'd been together, she would always tell him what Mimi was up to back in the U.S., even when he didn't really care.

"What else, I'm contacting her." She waited until someone had the chance to answer, but to her dismay, was received by a telephone operator. "It's no longer in service."

"When's the last time you spoke to her?" Taichi asked.

"Last year, it was actually really brief. What about you guys?"

"Uh…" The rest of them didn't answer as Sora had hoped.

"Maybe, two, three years ago, but I think Takeru talked to her on Christmas, or was it November…"

"Well, I think she contacted me last year, but just through email," Koushiro uttered.

"It has been a while." Indeed it had been too long for all of them, Taichi wasn't particularly as close to Mimi as Sora and his sister were. It was no wonder he didn't recognize the girl, even at first glance. "I don't think Jo has spoken to her either."

"How do you know?"

"I saw him this week, nothing about her came up."

"I'll call Takeru and tell 'em to come." He wasn't sure of what was going on, but he hoped his brother had more insight on the situation.

* * *

She stood behind the door, looking through the semitransparent window, deciding the best way to make herself present to the occupant on the other side. Three brief knocks was all it took for the door to swing open. The grin on the man's face could explain at least a couple of reasons why she fathom the idea of seeing a therapist, they were strangers, and even though they provided an outlet for their patients—they would judge, regardless of the other parties dilemma.

"Mimi," his voice calm and soothing, irritably so. "Come in."

He welcomed her into his office, which seems to gone through more decorative changes than a local convenient store. She nodded and took a seat on one of the available sofas. She admitted that the fung shui in this place was calming, the man probably arranged everything in the room to accommodate her.

"So how are we today?" he began. Mimi mentally rolled her eyes, like he didn't already know the answer.

"I thought you were an excellent psychiatrist, aren't you supposed to know?" She wasn't trying to be sarcastic. Through her experience, she learned how to fabricate her passive aggression.

He pointed at her injured hand with his pen. "What happened?"

"I…" Momentarily, she almost forgot she was physically injured. Shrinks were always aware of any physical altercations done to their patients. "Someone crashed into me when I was walking home."

"Does it hurt?"

"Does it matter?"

"I see…" He began writing notes down.

"Don't."

"Don't?" he questioned.

"I'm not stupid, I know how this game works," she retorted.

"I'm not sure I get what you're trying to say."

"You think this is self-harm." Mimi held her hand out. "It's not."

"I know, you just said it wasn't."

This is what irritated her about these shrink, no matter how much she explained certain situations, they always twisted the truth, and made it seem like things were always her fault. She learned how to play this game with the other two psychiatrist. "Can you not be so obvious?" That notepad really helped in empowering them.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Don't treat me like I'm one of your mental health patience, I'm not sick."

"That's not my field."

"Or so you say." There was that passive aggression again.

"I thought you called me because you wanted to talk."

"I do, I need your expert advice, not your assessment."

"Why? You've never wanted it before."

…

She hadn't answered, so he decided to take a different approach. "May I ask, what made you come to this conclusion?

Mimi thought about it, he was certainly not her first choice, but she was really low on the amount of people that could actually assist her in this situation. "I promised my dad that I would try."

"Oh… so I get that he is informed about your past sessions?"

When she first came here, she didn't have any intentions of ever opening up to him, and that idea was still freshly lingering in her head, but she wanted to try now, to take a chance. "… Yeah."

"And… _you_ informed him?"

"He asked, I was just honest."

"Okay then…" He was cautiously surprised, without her knowing, she was beginning to unravel all on her own. "What would you like to discuss?"

"Before that, I think we should establish some ground rules."

"Interesting, go ahead," he prompted.

"Well, first off…" Mimi stood up, walking over and taking possession of his notepad. "None of this."

"Whatever makes you comfortable."

"Also, try not to sound be so… dedicated. Sometimes, I will be simple to understand, other times I won't. Just make sure to sound interested, at least."

"Got it."

"At the end of the day, I know you're still going to evaluate me… just don't treat me like I'm one of your regular angsty teens, please, it's insulting."

"But _you_ are a teen."

"That's not my point."

He chuckled at his sudden realization. "Done."

"Um… also, my dad, if you talk to him, don't go making him worry, he has enough trouble as it is." After he nodded, she decided to continue. "Most Importantly, I don't want to talk about… that."

"Mimi, you know your father specifically—"

"I know…" She knew that last request would be a difficult one, but for now, she hopped to delay it. "It has to come naturally though."

"I agree, I won't push you."

"Please, I don't want you to think I'm manipulating you."

"You aren't."

…

* * *

"Whoa. I had no idea." Takeru was peering at the documentation, deciding if this was some kind of hoax.

Beside him, Hikari was looking over the information as well. "Mimi, here? But why would she not tell us."

"We were hoping you two had a clue." Koushiro answered.

"I really had no idea, I mean, I spoke to her like eight months ago. She just told me about a trip she was making."

"Now that I think about," Hikari wondered about the possibilities. "What happened to her social media?"

"I totally forgot about checking that." Quickly, Sora took her phone out and began login in to all the accounts she had.

"I haven't seen anything from her on my feed either." Takeru mimicked Sora, checking all his social addresses.

"She deleted me or something." Sora hoped that she would be able to at least find some kind of indication of her friend, but no luck.

"I don't know what's going on with her, but I think we can all agree that this…" Yamato dropped the application in the middle of the table where they were sitting at. "Is indeed hers."

"We should return it," Taichi suggested.

"I agree, but…" Sora tried to look for a deeper meaning to advice, but nothings was making sense. Maybe Mimi was mad at them. Why else would she delete all of them, and without warning.

"Well, not only that, but we need that other contract that belongs to the school. I told the counselor that about our accident, she excused it for the time being, but we really need it."

"She's attending I.G," Hikari said, looking at down on the paper. "Isn't that—that International all-girls school?"

"I think it is." The older ginger reread the name, making sure it was indeed that school Hikari mentioned. "It's not far from here, actually."

"If you think about, that direction is actually not far from where you crashed, Tai." Koushiro had found the location through the virtual map on his computer.

Fate was a funny thing, the coincidence that he and Mimi had collided was a sign, a sign that their friendships were strong. "Then that settles it, were just going to have to go see her."

* * *

He had agreed to most of her basic principles she had laid out for him. Hopefully with these guidelines, they could improve their communication standards.

"As a sign of our new relationship, I'd like to begin by asking you a question." She looked at him in silence, he knew this was his cue to go on. "How has your experience with other shrinks been?"

"Uh… what do you mean?"

"Well to be more specific, I want to understand, how your experience with other specialist has been? Good? Bad?"

"My dad didn't tell you?"

"He did but… I want to hear it from you directly."

"I see, can you tell me one thing first, what's your ultimate goal with me?"

He wasn't sure if she was trying to change the subject, but his mind hinted that perhaps this was her defense mechanism. "You mean accomplish?"

She nodded again.

"Well… I suppose," He immediately knew this was a test of her own. "I do want you to confide me, but I want it to be genuine and not forced.

"Do you think you need this?" he questioned.

"Do you?"

He knew she would revert the question back to him, to this, he already had an answer. "Quite frankly, I don't think you do." Again, she looked at him with a perplexed expression.

"Liar," she said calmly.

"I don't think you've noticed, but the way you came in; how you dress; how you react, it all plays a role on how you feel. I think you're very aware of where you are, the situation you're in, the problems you face. You just need guidance, guidance that we can work on."

She couldn't believe that he had figured this out so fast, it hadn't even been thirty minutes yet. "I'm sorry."

That statement really caught him off guard. "Why?"

"I've just been acting so juvenile with you, Instead of establishing this since the beginning."

"You're sixteen, Mimi. I think you're more than entitled to explore your emotions."

"…Mhm.

"The other psychiatrist said they'd ' _help me_ ', but how could they help someone when you don't even know your own essence."

"You mean metaphorically speaking?"

She nodded one last time.

"I see," he contemplated. This was going to be a tough task, mainly due to the vast understanding she had, but he would definitely help her regain her confidence. "So let me ask you this, Do you think I'll take advantage of your hardships?

"…It's too early to know, I hope you don't though."

"I realize you are very hesitant about speaking out."

"Well… my intention was… to… I mean I needed advice." The purpose was to get some grasp of what had been going on with her. She needed to take advantage of this opportunity.

"Then would you like to talk about that then?"

"Yes," she said calmly.

"Well, in that case, I'm all ears."

* * *

 **R/R. Thanks.**


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